Thermal module

ABSTRACT

A thermal module includes a blower, a fin unit and a heat pipe. The blower includes a base, a cover, a sidewall between the base and the cover, and an impeller arranged among the base, the cover and the sidewall. An air outlet is defined in the sidewall of the blower. The fin unit is arranged at the air outlet. The heat pipe has a contacting plate integrally formed with one of the base and the cover of the blower. The contacting plate of the heat pipe includes a dissipating surface attaching to the fin unit, and an absorbing surface with different portions adapted for contacting with electronic components, wherein the different portions of the absorbing plate being at different levels.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The disclosure generally relates to thermal modules, and more particularly to a thermal module which can be easily assembled.

2. Description of Related Art

With continuing development of the electronic technology, electronic components such as CPUs are generating more and more heat which is required to be dissipated immediately. A thermal module is usually adopted for cooling the electronic component.

Generally, the thermal module includes a blower, a fin unit arranged at an air outlet of the blower, and a heat pipe. The heat pipe includes an evaporating section attached to the electronic component, and a condensing section attached to the fin unit to transfer heat generated by the electronic component to the heat sink. The blower generates a forced airflow which flows through the fin unit to exchange heat with the fin unit, and thus takes away the heat to outside. To assembly the thermal module, a plate is usually adopted with one side thereof fixed with a housing of the blower and another side thereof fixed with the heat pipe. However, the plate not only increases a weight of the thermal module, but also increases a size of the thermal module, which conflict with the requirement for light weight and compactness of the electronic devices.

For the foregoing reasons, therefore, there is a need in the art for a thermal module which overcomes the limitations described.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric, assembled view of a thermal module according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an isometric, exploded view of the thermal module of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is similar to FIG. 2, but showing the thermal module viewed from another aspect.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a thermal module according to an alternative embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a thermal module for dissipating heat of electronic components of an electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment includes a blower 10, a fin unit 20 and a heat pipe 30.

Referring to FIG. 2, the blower 10 includes a cover 11, a base 12, a sidewall 13, and an impeller 14. The cover 11 is substantially square-shaped, with a portion of an edge thereof being arced. A first air inlet 110 is defined at a central portion of the cover 11, and is circular. The base 12 has a profile similar to the cover 11, and is substantially parallel to the cover 11. A second air inlet 120 is defined in a central portion of the base 12 corresponding to the first air inlet 110. A supporting board 15 is arranged at a central portion of the second air inlet 120. Three ribs 16 extend radially and outwardly from the supporting board 15 to the base 12, and divide the second air inlet 120 into three parts.

The sidewall 13 is integrally formed with the base 12, and extends perpendicularly and upwardly from an outer periphery of the base 12 to an outer periphery of the cover 11. A space 18 is thus defined among the cover 11, the base 12 and the sidewall 13. An air outlet 130 is defined in the sidewall 13 of the blower 10. The air outlet 130 communicates the space 18, and is perpendicular to the first air inlet 110 and the second air inlet 120. The impeller 14 is received in the space 18, and is rotatably supported by the supporting board 15. During operation of the blower 10, the impeller 14 drives surrounding air into the space 18 via the first air inlet 110 and the second air inlet 120, and then to the air outlet 130 to form forced airflow after the air is pressurized in the space 18.

The fin unit 20 is arranged at the air outlet 130 of the blower 10. The fin unit 20 includes a plurality of fins 24 stacked together. A channel 22 is defined between neighboring fins 24 communicating the air outlet 130.

Referring to FIG. 3, the heat pipe 30 is used for transferring heat of the electronic components to the fin unit 20 for dissipation. The heat pipe 30 is flat, and has a profile substantially being Z-shaped. The heat pipe 30 includes an evaporation section 31 and a condensation section 33 formed at two ends thereof, respectively. The condensation section 33 is linear-shaped and attached to a top side of the fin unit 20 closely. The evaporation section 31 is substantially L-shaped, and includes an elongated portion 310 extending perpendicularly from the condensation section 33, and an end portion 312 extending perpendicularly from the elongated portion 310. The end portion 312 is parallel to the condensation section 33. The end portion 312 and the condensation section 33 are respectively located at opposite sides and opposite ends of the elongated portion 310 of the heat pipe 30.

The heat pipe 30 is formed by soldering two separates plates, i.e., a top plate 32 and a bottom plate 34, together. Both of the top plate 32 and bottom plate 34 are made of metallic material with high heat conduction, such as copper, aluminum or an alloy thereof. Each of the top plate 32 and the bottom plate 34 includes a main body 322, 342 facing each other, and a flange 324, 344 extending perpendicularly from an outer periphery of the main body 322, 342 towards the main body 342, 322 of the other one of the top plate 32 and the bottom plate 34. The flanges 324, 344 of the top plate 32 and the bottom plate 34 are connected with each other through soldering, thus to form a chamber 39 between the top plate 32 and the bottom plate 34 of the heat pipe 30, which receives a working fluid therein. A wick structure (not shown) can be arranged in the chamber 39 for enhancing a heat transfer capability of the heat pipe 30.

The bottom plate 34 of the heat pipe 30 is integrally formed with the cover 11 of the blower 10. The elongated portion 310 of the evaporation section 31 and the condensation section 33 of the heat pipe 30 are located at two neighboring sides of the cover 11. A bottom side of the bottom plate 34 includes a dissipating surface 330 corresponding to the condensation section 33, and an absorbing surface 314 at the evaporation section 310 of the heat pipe 30. The absorbing surface 314 is adapted for attaching to the electronic components to absorb heat therefrom, and is divided into several portions having different levels. The dissipating surface 330 is flat, and attaches to the top side of the fin unit 20 directly for dissipating the heat to the fin unit 20.

A plurality of concaves 341 are depressed downwardly from the main body 342 of the bottom plate 34, and a protrusion 343 extends upwardly from the main body 342 of the bottom plate 34 with a height smaller than a depth of the chamber 39. Thus the absorbing surface 314 of the bottom plate 34 at a position corresponding to the concaves 341 being lower than other portion thereof, and the absorbing surface 314 of the bottom plate 34 at a position corresponding to the protrusion 343 is higher than the other portion thereof. In this embodiment, there are four concaves 341 formed in the bottom plate 34, in which one concave 341 is defined in the end portion 312 of the evaporation section 31, one concave 341 is defined in the elongated portion 310 adjacent to the evaporation section 31, and other two concaves 341 are defined in a middle of the evaporation section 31. The four concaves 341 are spaced from each other. The protrusion 343 is formed adjacent to the middle of the evaporation section 31.

The protrusion 343 and the concaves 341 are formed corresponding to the electronic components. It is to be understood that, a number, a shape and a position of the concave 341 and the protrusion 343 should be decided according to the arrangement of electronic components. As the electronic components of the electronic device usually are arranged close to each other, and have different heights, thus, the electronic components with lower heights can be attached to the portions of the absorbing surface 314 tightly, which are located corresponding to the concaves 341 of the bottom plate 34. On the other hand, the electronic component with a higher height can be attached to the portion of the absorbing surface 314 tightly, which is located corresponding to the protrusion 343 of the bottom plate 34. Therefore, the evaporation section 31 of the heat pipe 30 with the non-planar absorbing surface 314 can tightly contact with plural electronic components with different heights at the same time.

A plurality of posts 38 each having a through hole 348 therein extend upwardly from the main body 342 of the bottom plate 34. The posts 38 are spaced from each other. The top plate 32 defines a plurality of apertures 328 corresponding to the posts 38 of the bottom plate 34. A diameter of each aperture 328 is substantially the same as an outer diameter of the corresponding post 38. When the top plate 32 and the bottom plate 34 are soldered to form the heat pipe 30, the posts 38 of the bottom plate 34 respectively extend into the apertures 328 of the top plate 32, thus the space 18 formed in the heat pipe 30 is sealed, and the working fluid can not leak out from the heat pipe 30.

Since the heat pipe 30 is integrally formed with the cover 11 of the blower 10, the fin unit 20 is arranged at the air outlet 130 of the blower 10 and attached to the condensation section 33 of the heat pipe 30, the thermal module is connected together without extra fixing structures. When assembling the thermal module to the electronic components, several screws are just needed to extend through the apertures 328 and the through holes 348 of the heat pipe 30 into a circuit board on which the electronic components are mounted. Thus assembly of the thermal module is simple and easy. After assembled, a weight and a size of the thermal module are not increased, and thus the electronic device incorporates the thermal module can have a relatively lower weight and compactness size.

During operation of the thermal module, the plural electronic components of the electronic device respectively contact the portions of the absorbing surface 314 tightly, which are located corresponding to the concaves 341 and the protrusion 343 of the heat pipe 30, respectively. Thus, a heat resistance between the electronic components and the heat pipe 30 is reduced. The heat generated by the electronic components thus can be quickly absorbed by the heat pipe 30, and then transferred to the fin unit 20 timely. Finally the blower 10 generates forced airflow to the fin unit 20 to take away the heat to an outside. Therefore, the thermal module can cool plural electronic components simultaneously. A heat dissipation efficiency of the thermal module is enhanced.

FIG. 4 shows a thermal module according to an alternative embodiment, which includes a blower 40, a fin unit 20 and a heat pipe 50. The difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment is that the blower 40 is arranged inverted with a base 42 at a top side of the blower 40. In other words, the base 42 is arranged over a cover 41 which defines a first air inlet 410. A sidewall 43 is formed between the base 42 and the cover 41, and defines an air outlet 430 facing the fin unit 20. Accordingly, a supporting board 45 is formed at a central portion of the base 42 for rotatably supporting an impeller 44 of the blower 40. A second air inlet 420 is defined in the base 42 around the supporting board 45, and is divided into three parts by three ribs 46 which connect the supporting board 45 to the base 42. The heat pipe 50 is integrally formed with the base 42 of the blower 40; thus, assembly of the thermal module is also simplified.

It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the disclosure have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the disclosure, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 

1. A thermal module, comprising: a blower comprising a base, a cover, a sidewall between the base and the cover, and an impeller arranged among the base, the cover and the sidewall, an air outlet being defined in the sidewall of the blower; a fin unit arranged at the air outlet of the blower; and a heat pipe having a contacting plate integrally formed with one of the base and the cover of the blower, the contacting plate of the heat pipe comprising a dissipating surface attaching to the fin unit, and an absorbing surface having different portions adapted for contacting with electronic components, the different portions of the absorbing surface being at different levels.
 2. The thermal module of claim 1, wherein the impeller is connected to the base, and the cover is over the base, the contacting plate being integrally formed with the cover.
 3. The thermal module of claim 1, wherein the impeller is connected on the base, and the base is over the cover, the contacting plate being integrally formed with the base.
 4. The thermal module of claim 1, wherein the heat pipe further comprises a top plate arranged on and connected to the contacting plate through soldering, and a sealed space is defined between the top plate and the contacting plate.
 5. The thermal module of claim 4, wherein a plurality of posts extend from the contacting plate into the top plate, a through hole being defined in each post for a fixing member extending therethrough to assemble the thermal module to the electronic components.
 6. The thermal module of claim 4, wherein at least one protrusion extends from the contacting plate towards the top plate, at least one of the portions of the absorbing surface of the contacting plate being located at the at least one protrusion and being higher than other portions of the absorbing surface.
 7. The thermal module of claim 4, wherein at least one concave is depressed from the contacting plate, at least one of the portions of the absorbing surface of the contacting plate being located at the at least one concave and being lower than other portions of the absorbing surface.
 8. The thermal module of claim 1, wherein the heat pipe is substantially Z-shaped, and comprises a linear-shaped condensation section and an L-shaped evaporation section, the dissipating surface of the contacting plate being formed at the condensation section, the absorbing surface of the contacting plate being formed at the evaporation section.
 9. The thermal module of claim 8, wherein the evaporation section comprises an elongated portion connected to the condensation section and an end portion spaced from the condensation section, a plurality of concaves being depressed from the contacting plate corresponding to both of the elongated portion and the end portion, corresponding ones of the portions of the absorbing surface at the plurality of concaves being lower than at least one of other portions of the absorbing surface.
 10. The thermal module of claim 9, wherein at least one protrusion extends upwardly from the contacting plate at a position corresponding to the elongated portion, a corresponding one of the portions the absorbing surface at the at least one protrusion being higher than at least one of other portions of the absorbing surface.
 11. A thermal module, comprising: a blower comprising a base, a cover parallel to the base, a sidewall interconnecting outer peripheries of the base and the cover, and an impeller arranged among the base, the cover and the sidewall, the sidewall defining an air outlet therein, the impeller being rotatably connected to the base; a fin unit arranged at the air outlet of the blower; and a heat pipe comprising a first plate and a second plate connected together, the second plate attaching to the fin unit and integrally formed with one of the base and the cover of the blower.
 12. The thermal module of claim 11, wherein the base is over the cover, and the second plate is integrally formed with the base.
 13. The thermal module of claim 11, wherein the cover is over the base, and the second plate is integrally formed with the cover.
 14. The thermal module of claim 11, wherein at least one concave is defined in the second plate, and at least one protrusion extends upwardly from the second plate towards the first plate, a bottom side of the second plate at the at least one concave being lower than other part of the bottom side of the second plate and the bottom side of the second plate at the at least one protrusion being higher than other part of the bottom side of the second plate, whereby the bottom side of the second plate can contact with electronic components with different heights.
 15. The thermal module of claim 11, where a plurality of posts extend from the second plate into the first plate, a through hole being defined in each post for a fixing member extending therethrough. 